Scattered Mendes

- I was in Sweden to World Cup Soccer Jersey cover the opening of the NHL season.

- Last week I spent time in Napanee, Ont., to cover the David Frost trial. (This was a direct result of our assignment editors getting even with me for a plum trip to Sweden).
- Today I'm headed off to Tampa and Philadelphia to cover the World Series.
Since I didn't blog last week, I figured I'd touch on all of these topics in a single entry -- officially making me the first person ever to write about Chewbacca, Arby's and Vaclav Prospal in the same piece. (At least I hope that's the case).
Star Wars in Ottawa:
Most of you have probably seen Martin Gerber's Darth Vader mask by now. He was nicknamed "Darth Gerber" last season by Sens fans because of his jet-black mask. I have a new Star Wars-related nickname to throw out there for Ottawa fans: What about Ruutu-D2? Think about it. They could play that little beeping noise every time Jarkko scores a goal at home. And we don't have to stop there. I'm not sure if he's extra hairy withouthis shirt on, but Filip Kuba-ca could work too.
Heck, I can personally canvass Bryan Murray to make trades just so we could have more Star Wars nicknames on the team. Marco Sturm "Trooper" would fit in nicely. A re-acquisition of Sami "Hans" Salo wouldn't hurt either. And I'll cast my vote right now for Jesse Winchester to win Wookie of the Year. Who's with me?
My beef with the Frost trial:

I know Eugene Melnyk wants to bring a soccer stadium to Ottawa to put it in line with other global capitals. But what about an Arby's first Mr. Melnyk? It would only cost you $35,000 for a franchise fee. (I know, because I looked up the price).
Let's call today's blog entry "Scattered Thoughts From A Scattered Reporter." In the last two weeks, I have been all over the map covering a variety of things for Sportsnet:
Series hype: Paul Beeston's first order of business in Toronto should be to remove the "Blue" from the team name. The Toronto Jays will surely win the World Series in 2009 if they do that. (And just to be safe, they could add a big bat in the middle of the lineup and two quality starters).
Can anybody help me stir up the rivalry between Tampa and Philadelphia for the World Series? When I think of these two cities, all that comes to mind is the fact that Vaclav Prospal has played in both cities on two different occasions. That hardly seems the stuff of great animosity between cities.

I know the Bucs beat the Eagles in the NFC Championship game in 2003 and the Lightning beat the Flyers in the Eastern final in 2004. But I'm really struggling here to find a connection between these cities, so I'll take any suggestions. And please don't e-mail me to say that Chris Gratton might have a good take on this series.
Suggestion for Blue Jays:
Anaheim dropped the name "Mighty" from the Ducks and won the Stanley Cup. Tampa Bay dropped "Devil" from their name and now they are in the World Series
There is nothing fun about covering the sexual exploitation trial of a greasy former player agent and coach. But if there is an upside of covering the David Frost trial in Napanee, it's that I can actually eat at an Arby's. The closest Arby's to Ottawa is located in Kingston, which is on the way to Napanee. I'm not sure how we can live in the capital of this country and not have access to those curly fries. We don't even have one of those dirty Arby's located in a food court of a mall that is only frequented by senior citizens.